By Aristir Lumezi
“After Hysni’s death, on Ramiz’s orders, they put spies behind me, to make me speak out against Mehmet Shehu”
Memorie.al / Vito Kapo, the wife of Hysni Kapo, the number two in the communist dome, insisted that he was eliminated by Ramiz Alia, in a medical clinic in Paris, where he had gone for examinations and treatment. At the age of 98, with an admirable memory, Mrs. Kapo told the vicissitudes and exhaustion of her husband in the French clinic, where the answer was never given, as to what he was suffering from, while after Ramiz Alia went there, Hysni Kapo was exhausted from the tests and for a moment his medicines and oxygen were disconnected. In her interview, Vito Kapo recalled the last words of Hysni Kapo, before Ramiz Alia and his mysterious separation from life. Mrs. Kapo also told about her life after the separation from her husband, one of the most important figures of the Albanian People’s Party, such as her relationships with Nexhmije Hoxha and Ramiz Alina.
Mrs. Kapo, Nexhmije Hoxha testified in her latest book that it was Enver Hoxha’s order not to let you know about Hysni Kapo’s illness, in order not to hurt you. What was the truth?
Hysni had been sick since he was in Albania. He pretended to be completely healthy, he kept to himself and I didn’t notice him. We went to Pogradec and for two weeks, I had taken it upon myself to make the report of the Congress of the Women’s Union. He stayed there for two months, as long as he had a regular stay in Pogradec and I didn’t notice him at all, even though he wasn’t feeling well. When he saw me off on the road, he said to me: “Look what they’ve done; they’ve filled it with cars. What do I need all these cars, all this care for?”
Sometimes he would ask me to rub his back, because he felt tired, and I would jokingly say to him: “Hysni is getting old.” He never complained to me and I was “stupid” for not understanding that he was suffering. I had to go to Shkodra to submit a report and Hysni told me; “Go, don’t quit your job; I’m fine.” I hadn’t understood anything.
Even in Pogradec, where you stayed, were there no signs of fatigue or health complaints?
Hysni stayed two weeks with comrade Enver in Pogradec and they would go for walks every day. One day, comrade Enver said to him: “Hysni, I get tired because I talk too much, so let’s stop, andlet’s not walk so much.” One day he told me that he felt tired and wanted to lie down. I wanted to leave him alone, he didn’t want to, “you’ll stay with me,” he said. He didn’t want to be separated from him.
How did the visits and check-ups in Paris go?
From the first time we went, the doctors checked him for a pain he was having. After doing the tests and checks, the doctors told him that there was nothing wrong with him, that he had a heart attack, but it passed and now he has no problems. But the working group that dealt with Hysniu’s health treated him as if there was no problem with his health. They didn’t notice anything.
Did the doctors at the French hospital come to this conclusion?
No, I’m talking about the working group from the Central Committee and the group of doctors. Initially, they took us to a rest home, not a hospital. We stayed in this rest home for a few days and then they took us to a hospital for tests and check-ups. We both stayed in the same room. Hysni insisted on coming out, the doctor said no, because we have other tests to do. Those who accompanied us told us; come on, let’s take you to the hotel, but in fact it was a rest home, while we had gone for visits and check-ups at the hospital. We found out later that where we were staying was a rest home and not a hospital.
The head of the French mission in Tirana, whom we knew and who had tuberculosis and who later died, was also staying there. Hysniu asked us to leave and we returned to Tirana. After we returned, I saw that he wanted to rest more, he felt more tired, but I didn’t notice it. I was wandering around Albania, with the Albanian Women’s Union, while he was suffering, without telling me anything. He never knew how to complain. When I returned, he would joke with the service employees, saying that we would create conditions for Vito, that he was tired, he had taken on too many things.
How did his health continue?
We stayed in Albania, from March to July 1979. After we left Pogradec, we went back to Paris for the second time. The tests continued for a long time. I was even very worried, because I said they had brought him to the best hospital, they were doing tests on him and they couldn’t find out what was wrong with him, where this fatigue was coming from.
They didn’t inform you about what was happening, what his condition was?
No, they just told me that; we will do this and that test. Various foreign groups would come and meet Hysni. He would talk to them, stay, but he would get tired quickly. He would talk to them about Albania and then tell them that; now Vitua will continue. They would come to see how far his condition was. Most of them were French doctors. They did it as a friend. They would come and say: “This is our friend, now you will talk to us about this topic”.
Nexhmije Hoxha said in the book that Vito Kapo, on Enver Hoxha’s orders, should not be informed until we were convinced of the diagnosis and see if there was a cure or not, so as not to aggravate it…?!
Hysniu had several tests done, but they never told me what the results of his tests were, even today I don’t know how those tests came out. They always told me; we will do a scan, we will do a scan and in the end nothing. The Albanian doctors were totally careless, to get the hospital documents there. Because when Dr. Ylli Popa went, he told me: “Vito, I didn’t find any regular documents for the patient Hysni Kapo”! That says a lot, doesn’t it?! A deliberate mess was made so that no trace of his illness and what the doctors had done with him would be found.
And the group of doctors who accompanied him, starting from the Deputy Minister of Health and up to Ramiz Alia, how did they behave?
Ramiz gave the order to strike with a “gun”. Hysniu died with a “gun”. Do you know this?!
Where did this happen? In the hospital?!
In the hospital. Hysniu was killed with a “gun”. From the moment Ramiz arrived in Paris, Hysniu was subjected to nothing but tests and tests, without finding out what those tests revealed. They tired him out and exhausted him with tests. One day, Hysniu said to me: “What is he doing?”?! I told him; maybe they will come to some conclusion! “Wait, Vito, because they really screwed me over with these tests”, Hysniu told me.
Watching them do such tests day after day was inhumane. They took him from one laboratory to another, until he got tired. Hysniu was so tired of the tests that he said to me: Vito, I’m done now. A word that Hysniu never said from his own mouth.
What did he tell you on his last day in the hospital?
VITO KAPO: That day the French doctor came in the morning and removed the oxygen tubes. I shouted at him, I told him what are you doing, he is alive, he needs them, he is communicating with me. As soon as he left, another French doctor came and removed some other tubes, through which he was receiving medication. “Moos,” I said, “don’t take them away, I am communicating with him.”
I was screaming like crazy in the hospital. I was talking to Ramiz, about the French doctors who removed Hysniu’s devices. Hysniu told me: “Vito, go away”! Then, Hysniu addressed Ramiz, who was there in the room: “Say goodbye to Enver! Long live the Party, long live comrade Enver, long live Albania! I know my job, you continue your job”! He saw me shouting, and said: “Are the children there”? Yes, I told him, they are.
After these words, Hysniu remained; they had given him the “bullet”. I burst into tears. There Hysniu ended up, before my eyes. What they gave him, I don’t know, but he died in an instant. Hysniu ended up calmly, without noise, how, I don’t know, but he was talking, asking about the children and I was there, present.
You accuse Ramiz Ali of the death of Hysni Kapo?! Mehmet Shehu also wanted the elimination of Hysni Kapo?!
No, Mehmet initially insisted on taking Hysni abroad for treatment. He was enthusiastic about it. He loved Hysni.
What happened to you after Hysni Kapo’s death?
After Hysniu’s death, they made me a spy. They would come to me once a week, ask me how I was doing this, how I was doing this, for work issues, they would provoke me with personal names, this one is not good, this one has this defect, so that I would express myself and take a stand. They wanted to turn me against my friends and the party; they wanted to know if I was against Mehmet Shehu, after Hysniu’s departure.
And of course, they wanted to oppose me, against Mehmet Shehu. I have said that; Mehmet Shehu was an even more capable soldier than Hysniu, due to his military education, which he had. Mehmet loved Hysniu very much; they went together, on many long trips.
Who sent these spies to you?
The Central Committee of the Party.
Ramiz Alia?
Of course, Ramiz, but also others, but from the Central Committee, not from the government.
Nexhmije Hoxha states that she had a great friendship with you, but explains that you have doubts, that Hysni Kapo has been eliminated, that you are not familiar with his illness, etc. How were your relations?
Comrade Enver has protected me a lot, in all directions. He told the prime minister that Vito Kapo will be treated as a candidate for the Politburo. Nexhmije had her work, she was not kind, I was superior, in many tasks. Enver praised me, whenever the opportunity arose. I can say one thing that Nexhmije did not worry about Hysni, while Enver, constantly took care of him. Whenever Enver came to our house, he would go to the picture and always say: “How much I miss you, take Hysni”!
Vito Kapo’s suspicions about the “poisoning of Hysni”
“Hysni Kapo died on September 23, 1979, in Paris. Not even French doctors managed to prolong the life of the communist leader. It was Ramiz Alia who gave the terrible news to Enver Hoxha, through a radiogram. The latter had sent Ramiz Alia himself to Paris, so that he could closely follow the entire progress of Hysni Kapo’s operation and treatment, keep him informed and stay close to his wife, Vito”.
These are the words of Nexhmije Hoxha, in her book “Experiences and Reflections in My Political Life”, where a separate chapter is dedicated to her husband’s relationship with Hysni Kapo.
“After determining the serious diagnosis, Enver was preoccupied with how Vito would receive that terrible news. Knowing Vito’s alarming temperament, he was of the opinion that she should not be immediately informed, as her emotional state could create suspicions in Hysniu, who had to be kept as calm as possible in order to cope with the serious situation,” writes Nexhmije Hoxha in her book.
With this opinion of Enver, our doctors were also there, who gave great importance to the patient’s peace of mind. In the letter he sent to Mehmet Shehu, Llambi Ziçishti writes: “We did our best to convince Professor Aleksandr not to tell Comrade Vito the real diagnosis, as is done in such cases in France.
Comrade Vito was explained that the gallbladder was removed and the pancreas was operated on to remove the cyst, the biopsy of which previously indicated a benign process. Only Professor Hoxha, Doctor Gaçe, Doctor Dinia and I are aware of the real pathology, while in Tirana, only Comrade Kadri knows, with whom we agreed, using conventional words that had been previously defined…!
Today, the patient’s condition is satisfactory, it is clearer… but he will still continue to be kept in the intensive care unit…! We have the impression that the patient does not suspect anything bad.”
In fact, after this letter, Hysni’s condition became more complicated and the radiograms that came for him were numerous, until the last radiogram arrived, dated September 23, from Ramiz Alia, which said:
“I sadly inform you that tonight, at 9:30 PM, our dear friend, Hysni Kapo, died.” Enver experienced Hysni’s death with deep pain. “We could not save him, we could not prolong his life,” he said bitterly. Memorie.al
